Conveyer system



- L. THREEFOOT- ET AL.

CONVEYER SYSTEM Filed March'w, 1925 v s Sheets-Sheet 2 7 June 14, 1927.

L. THREEFOOT ET AL comma SYSTEM Filed March 19, 1925 3 Sheets-Skeet 5 IOUIS THREEFOOT AND GEORGE W. ELKIN, OF MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-TENTH TO LOUIS THREEFOO'I, ONE-TENTH T0 GLADYS LOUISE THREE- FOOT, ONE-TENTH TO FREDERICK MAR-SHALL THREEFOOT, ONE-TENTH T0 GLAIDY$ LENORA THREEFOOT, ONE-TENTH TO HENRY MARSHALL THREE-F001, ONE-SIXTH T0 GEORGE W. ELKIN, ONE-SIXTH T0 CATHERINE HOLMAN ELKIN, AND ONE- SIX'I'H T0 MARY ELKIN.

CONVEYER SYSTEM.

Application filed March 19, 1923.

Our. invention relates to improvements in conveyer systems, and is particularly concerned with the provision of conveyer means particularly adapted for use in stores, storage and warehouses, and in any other place where it is desirable or necessary to deliver, from time to time, one or more articles, packages, or cases from a stock of such articles, packages, cases, etc. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan-diagram of a portion of a warehouse having installed ,therein one of our conveyer systems.

Figure 2 is a plan showing certain details of the construction of two of the conveyers, and a transfer device located therebetween and formin a part of ourconveyer system, portions of the mechanism being broken away for the purpose of better illustration.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line 3- 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 3 is a. continuation of the right hand end of Figure 3. This view includes a transverse section through the third conveyer forming a part of our system.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 44: of Figure 3 Figure 5 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 55 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a vertical transverse sectional detail taken on line 6-6 of Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional detail taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 5, and

Figure 8 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of the keyboard'which the operator uses for selecting the desired articles, and for recording either the number of said articles delivered or the number of said articles still remaining in stock, as may be desired.

Throughout the several views, similar reference characters are used for referring to similar parts. and the several sections are taken looking in the direction of the small arrows.

At the present time, goods which are sold in packages, boxes, cases, etc., are usually received and stored in the upper stories of Serial No. 625,931.

stores or warehouses, the lower story of such buildings being used tor oftlce purposes.

\Vhenit becomes necessary to fill-an order, workmen are sent to the proper story of the building with written orders. There they either select, or some one delivers to them, the requisite number of packages, articles, cases, etc. These are usually loaded upon a truck, or some other conveying device, and taken to an elevator, from which they are delivered to a; loading platform. At this point, the goods are usually inspected by the shipping clerk to make certain that the order has been properly filled. Ordinarily, the shipping clerk is not the one who originally ordered the delivery of the goods. Such an arrangement requires a comparatively large number of men for the ordering and delivering of the goods desired.

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated our invention asbeing installed in a warehouse, one of the upper floors and a portion of the 'first or lower floor being shown in plan in Figure 1. In this view,-

we have shown a plurality. of conveyers 10, each comprising a pair of side rails 11 for supporting the ends of a plurality of parallel rollers 12 (see Figures 2 and 3) upon which are stacked a plurality of boxes or cases 13 arranged in, contiguous ranks and files. The several conveyers 11 are spaced apart a distance sufiicient to permit the workmen to have access to the spaces between them so as to expedite the piling of the boxes, cases, ete., upon these conveyers.

A second conveyor 14 is aligned with each of the conveyers 11 but positioned at a lower level than the conveyers 11. Intermediate the adjacent ends of each pair of conveyers 11 and 14 is a transfer device, indicated in general by the reference character T, the details of construction of which will be describedlater on. The longitudinally extending members '15 and the transverse members 16 are merely portions of a framework used for supporting apparatus which controls the delivery of packages to the transfer devices and the operation of the transfer devices, as will later be pointed out.

All of the conveyers 14 dischar e onto a common conveyer 17 which leads rom an upper story of the building to a lower story 18 which may, if desired, be provided with a loading platform 19 alongside a driveway 20. The keyboard 21 of the operator is located adjacent the discharge end of the conveyer 17 so as to permit the operator to check the delivery of goods to make sure that the orders are being properly filled.

If desired, conveyers 14 may be arranged .to discharge onto the commonconveyer 17 matically transferring the cases, one by one,

from the stack of cases on the conveyers 11 to the conveyers 14 so as to keep the latter conveyers constantlyfilled, and thus make it possible for the operator quickl to select and deliver any desired number 0 packages or cases.

Having thus described in a general way the principal features of our invention, we shall now describe more in detail themeans by which we accomplish the results just described. We shall first describe the means which we provide for automatically transferring the cases, one by one, from one of the first conveyers 11 to the corresponding second conveyer 14. For this purpose, we provide a platform which is formed from a short section of a conveyer, comprising the side rails 11 and the rollers 12'. This platform is supported by a piston rod 22, the lower end of which is provided with a piston 23 slidable in the cylinder 24. At

its lower end, this cylinder is provided with an outlet opening 25, the size of which may be adjusted by a suitable valve 26. The piston 23 has a lurality of openings 27 formed therein whicii, during the downward movement of the piston, are closed by the valves 28 which are biased to their closed position by the springs 29. These springs are, however, tensioned so that during the upward movement of the piston, they will open under atmospheric pressure, thereby making it possible for the piston to return to its uppermost position more quickly than would be the case if the air had to enter the cylinder 24 through the opening 25.

For returning the platform to its uppermost position, we rovide a counterweight 30 which is secure to one end of the ca 1 31, the other end of which is bifurcated and passes over a suitable pulley 32 mounted upon one of the longitudinal frame members 15, which, along with the frame member 16, are supported by posts or uprights 33 1positioned alongside the platform. Other pu leys 34 mounted upon the longitudinal members provide meansfor guiding the bifurcations of the cable 31, the free ends 31 of which are secured to the side rails 11' of the platform by means of suitable clamps 35. For guiding the platform in its vertical movements, we provide a guide block 36 for each of the side rails 11', these guide blocks being secured to the side rails in any suitable manner and projecting outwardly therefrom. The outer faces of these guide blocks are provided with vertically extending grooves for receiving the ribs 37 of the vertical guide rails 38 which are mounted upon cross-pieces 39 secured to the uprights 33.

For holding the platform in its elevated position while a file of boxes or cases is being transferred from the first conveyer 11 to the platform, we provide a pair of arms 40 (see Figure 7), one of which is pivotally mounted by means of a bolt 41,

or any other suitable means, upon a crosspiece 42 extending between the uprights 33' face 46 of the block adjacent the roller 43 is inclined downwardly and outwardly so as to place the spring 45 under tension as the platform moves to its uppermost position. The inward movement of the arms 40, when the platform is in a lowered position, is limited by the engagement of the rollers 43 with the ribs 37 of the guide rails. The curved surfaces 44 on the blocks are such that when the rollers 43 are in their load supporting positions, the weight of a file of cases upon the platform will not have a sufiiciently large lateral component todislod e the rollers 43 from their positions. small force applied to the upper ends of the arms will remove the rollers from their load supporting positions, so as to permit the platform to move downwardly under the T e curve is, however, such that a' to move downwardly, we provide a pair of the arms are free to move ina plane paral-' lel with the plane of the stack of cases or boxes, etc. Means, which will later be described, are provided for urging the lower ends of the arms 47 inwardly to a position overthe platform. A second pair of arms 49 project outwardly from the upper ends of the arms 47 and at substantially right angles thereto, suitable braces 50 being provided between the second pair of arms and the first pair of arms. A cable 51 has one end attached to the outer end of each of the arms 49, and passes around a pulley 52 secured to one of the posts or uprights 53 located upon opposite sides of the adjacent end of the conveyer 14. The other end of this cable passes through an eye 54 in the upper end of the adjacent arm 40, and is secured therein in any suitable manner.

As a file of cases rolls onto the platform, it m'ovestoward the opposite side of the platform due to the inclination of the platform, and comes into contact with the lower ends of the arms 47 which are provided with an anti-friction roller 55, and pushes the ends of these arms outwardly until the file of cases and the arms occupy substantially the position shown in Fi ure 3. At this point, a brace 56 extending etween the lower ends of the arms 47 contacts with a bufier'57, which spans the space between two of the posts 33, thereby preventing any further movement of the file of cases. The outward movement of the lower ends of the arms 47 causes the outer ends of the arms 49 to move upwardly, thereby pulling upon the cables 51, and causing them to move the arms 40 to a position in which the rollers 43-disengage the blocks 46. Thereupon, the platform and the file of cases supported thereby begin to descend under the weight of the file of cases.

It will be apparent that if the succeedingfile of cases were permitted to follow the file of cases just delivered to the platform, up to the instant this file of cases starts to descend, there might .be some interference with the downward movement of the platform due to the contacting vertical sides of the two files of cases. To prevent this, we provide means for stopping vthe forward movement of the remaining files of cases. These means comprises a shutter or detent 58 on each side --'of the stack of cases, this shutter being pivotally mounted upon suitable uprights 59 positioned adjacent opposite sides of the delivery end of the first conveyer, these shutters or detents being mounted upon the supports 59 by means of hinges- 60. The free edges of these detents are provided with pads 61 of rubber, or suitable friction material, for engaging the sides of the cases or boxes. These pads are preferably mounted upon the free ends 61 of a leaf spring 61 secured to the edge of the detents or shutters 58,-as shown in Figure 6. If desired, the free ends of this leaf spring may be slotted to receive the ends of the pins 61 for preventingthe leaf spring from turning on the edge of the detent 58. A link 62 connects the upper end of each detent or shutter with the upper end of the adjacent arm 47 so that as the arm 47 swings outwardly under the lateral thrust due to the file of cases delivered to the platform, the detents 58 will be drawn in toward the stack of cases passing therebetween, until the pads 61 contact therewith, and then convent their further movement toward the platform.

A tension spring 63 is provided for each of the links 62, one end of this spring being secured to the link, 'as shown in Figure 3, and the other end thereof being attached to a suitable support, such, for instance, as one of the frame members 15, so that as the lower ends of the arms 47 move outwardly under the thrust of the file of cases, the springs 63 are put under tension so that when all of the cases have been discharged from the platform, in a manner about to be described, the springs 63 will, by pulling upon the links 62, cause the lower ends of the arms 47 to be positioned over the plat form, and at the same time cause the detents or shutters 58 to be moved to a posi-' tion which will release the next succeeding file of cases and permit it to move into position on the transfer platform. The operation just described is repeated as fast as the cases forming the file of cases are discharged from their positions over the platform, except as this operation .is interrupted due 'to the second conveyor becoming filled with the conveyer. The upper ends of these plates are supported by means. of the links 65. The inner ends of these links are pivotally connected with the friction plates 64 by means of suitable pivot ins 66, and the other ends of these Hu s are pivotally Ill 64 will be held parallel with the adjacent walls or faces of the cases. The inner edges of the friction plates 64 are preferably provided with pads 71 of rubber, or other suitable friction material. It will, of course, be, understood that these faces of the friction plates could be roughened or otherwise treated toincrease the friction between them and the sides of the boxes or cases. Springs 72 secured to the upper ends of the friction plates 64 and to the uprights 33 provide means for urging the friction plates into the positions in which they do not contact with the sides of the boxes or cases. 1

A yoke 73 is slidably mounted upon the piston rod 22 and is provided with two pairs of outwardly extending arms 74. A link 75 is pivotally connected with each of these arms and the lower end of the arms 68' of the adjacent bell crank lever 68. The arms 74 and the links 75 thus form a toggle mechanism for forcing the lower ends of the bell crank lever 68 outwardly and the friction plates 64 inwardly. By this means, we are enable to exert sufficient lateral pressure upon the friction plates 64 to press them against the sides of the next to the lowest case on the platform, and thus hold this case and the superimposed cases suspended while the lowermost case is being discharged from the platform. The dimensions of thetoggle mechanism and the bell crank lever are such that the friction pads 71 of the friction plates do not come into contact with the walls of the cases until the lowermost case has just cleared the end .of the friction plates 64, so that up to this point the entire weight of the file of cases is exerted 1n moving the platform downwardly and-the fric tion plates inwardly. As the platform moves downwardly under the weight of the lowermost case, the yoke 73 is moved into position so that the latch 76 can engage the topof the yoke 7 3'and hold it from moving.

ing arm 79' of the bell crank lever 79, and

the other end of which is secured to the permit air rapidly to enter the cylinder 24.

bar 83 is secured to the platform and pro]ects therefrom, the outer end of this bar being provided with an opening which re- .ceives the rod 84, the lower end of which is pivotally connected with the arm 79 of the bell crank lever 79. The upper end of the rod 84 is provided with a head or stop 85 which is adapted to be engaged by the outer end of the bar 83 just before the platform reaches its uppermost position. This causes the rod 84 to be pulled upwardly, thereby releasing the latch 76 from the yoke 73. This relieves the tension on the friction plates, and permits the file of cases to drop downwardly until the lowermost case of the file rests upon the latform, whereupon the operation just escribed is repeated. It will, of course, be understood that when the lowermost case is removed from the bottom of the file by the down ward movement of the platform, the remaining cases will continue to move downwardly through a slightdistance until thepressure on the friction plates is increased to the point where it prevents any further downward movement of these cases. This means that the bottom of the lowermost case will always project somewhat beyond the lower end of the friction lates 64. The length of the piston rod an of the rod 84, and the dimensions of the remaining portions of the control apparatus just described can be made so that the release of the yoke 73 will take place just before the platform engages the bottom of the lowermost case in theme, so as to prevent the file of cases from dropping so far as to. injure the contents of the cases.

If the cases delivered to the second conveyer from the platform are permitted to discharge from the second conveyer so as not to interfere with the discharge of successive cases from the latform, the o eration just described will e repeated until all of the cases have been transferred from their position above the latform to the second conveyer. When t is occurs, the springs 63 will pull inwardly the lower ends of the arms 47, and will also move the detents or shutters 58 toa position to release the'next succeeding file of cases which will then move downwardly under the'infiuence of gravity and onto the platform, thus pro viding another supply of cases to be trans nesaaoa ferred to the second conveyer. As described above, the movement of this file of casesonto the platform will automatically-move the detents or shutters 58 into position to prevent further advance of the next succeeding file of cases. By these two combined operations, all of the cases on the first conveyer can be automatically. transferred, one by one, to the second conveyer.

hen the last box or case of any given file of cases has been discharged from the platform, and the platform moves upwardly, the detents or shutters 58 would be opened so as to permit the next succeeding file of cases to move downwardly toward the platform before the latter had reached its uppermost position, unless some means are provided for reventing'this. For this purpose, we rovlde a latch a, the outer end of which is plvoted to one of the uprights 53, and the inner end of which is adapted to engage the projecting end cfthe shaft 6 of the roller 55. A rod 0 is pivotally connected with the latch at intermediate the ends of the latter, and its lower end reciprocates in a suitable guide all carried by the support 53, so that the lower endrof the rod 0 is positioned in the path of a projection 6 extending outwardly fromthe p atform. This projection engages -the lower end of the rod 0 111st before the platform reaches its uppermost position, so as to release the latch a from the end of the shaft 6, and thus permit the arm 47 to swing inwardly, and the detents 58. to open to allow another file of cases to move outwardly onto the latform.

We sha 1 next describe the means by which the transfer of the cases from the second conveyer to the third conveyer is automatically effected under the control of the operator. By reference to Figure 3, it will be noted that the side rails at the'discharge end of the second conveyer 14 terminate in a short section 14', which is inclined to the remaining portion of the con'veyer so that as the boxes or cases successively move onto this portion of the second conveyer, their front ends will tilt downwardly as their center of gravity moves past the roller 14* positioned at the upper end of theshort inclined section, as shown in Figure 3, the

boxes or cases being shown in dotted outline.

For preventing the succeeding hex or case from discharging onto the third conveyor 17, we provide a stop or detent which; com..- prises the roller 86 (see Figures 3* and 4), the ends of which are pivotally mbunted in a yoke 87 carried b'y-the rod 88. This assembly is carried by a second yoke 89, the

opposite ends of which are secured "to the- 51 e rails of the conveyor 14. A pair of guide rods 90 are secured to the yoke 87 and pass through suitable o enings in the bottom of the yoke 89. ompression springs 91 surrounding these guide rods yieldingly rod 88, intermediate its ends, and is adapted to be pulled downwardly by means of the electrical solenoid 93 carried by the bracket or yoke 94', the ends of which are secured to the bottom of the yoke 89. When current passes through the solenoid 93, it pulls the armature 92 downwardly, thereby removing the roller 86 from the path of the boxes or cases, and permits the next box to roll downwardly onto the conveyer 17. If, after depressing the roller 86, the operator immediatelyopens the circuit controlling or supplying current to the solenoid 93, the downward pull upon the armature 92 will cease, and the springs 91 will tend to move the roller 86 upwardly, but such upward movement of the roller will not take place until the box or case then assing over it reaches a position where its ront end tilts downwardly. Thereupon, the roller will move upwardly and prevent the next succeding box or case from moving onto the third conveyer. By repeatedly closing the circuit of the solenoid controlling the proper set of conveyers 11 and 14, the operator can cause the delivery of any desired number of cases to the conve er 17 This conveyer, as heretofore pointe out, delivers the boxes or cases at a oint adjacent the operators desk, so that t e operator can ascertain whether or not the proper number of boxes, cases, or articles has been delivered.

,It will, of course, be understood that the keyboard, shown in Figures 1 and 8, merely provides terminals and switching devices or suitable conductors for selectively energizing the solenoids 93. Remote control of apparatus of this type is. well known, and a detailed description thereof appears to be unnecessary. In Figure 8, we have indi cated ush buttons 95for controlling the flow 0 current through the various circuits leading to the solenoids 93, and associated with each of these push buttons is a holder 96 for receiving a label upon which may be printed the name of the commodity delivered through the operation of the push button. Also associated with each push button is a counter or odometer 97 which can be of conventional construction. This counter may be used either for indicating to the operator the number of boxesor cases removed from each stack, or may be so connected with the electrical circuit as to indicate the'number of boxes remaining in agiven stack. If used in the latter way, the counter or odometer would embody means for actuating the ele- Wherever in this specification and claims we have made use of the terms article, box, case, package, goods, etc., these terms are intended to be generic in charac ter and cover any object or objects which might be handled by our conveyer apparatus. Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully explain our invention that others may, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service. It will be obvious, that it is not necessary that all the features of the invention be employed in conjunction, since they may be advanta- J geously embodied in various combinations and sub-combinations.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding cases in contiguous ranks and files, and a third gravity conveyer for delivering said cases to a lower level, said third gravity conveyer being positioned at a lower level than said first gravity conveyer, of means for transferring said cases one by one from said first gravity conveyer to said third gravity conveyer, comprising a second gravity conveyer, a platform for successively receiving the files of cases from said first conveyer, said latforin being inclined toward said secon gravity conveyer and provided with rollers upon which said files of cases rest, means for holding said platform in its uppermost position, means controlled by the lateral thrust of a file of cases on said platform for releasing said latform, means for permitting said platorm to descend under the weight of a file of cases thereon, means actuated by the Wei ht. of said file of cases for supporting all ut the lowermost of said file of cases while said lowermost case is rolling from said platform onto said second gravity conveyer, means for returning said platform after said lowermost case has been dischar ed therefrom, means actuated by said lat orm in its upward movement for reeasing said supporting means, remote controlimeans for controlling the transfer of cases from said second gravity conveyer to said third gravity conveyer, and means for controlling the transfer-of successive files of cases fromsaid first gravity conveyer to said platform.

2. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding cases in contiguous ranks and files, and a third gravity conveyer for delivering saidcases to a lower level, said third gravity conveyer being positioned at a lower level than said first gravity conveyer, of means for transferring said cases one by one from said first gravity conveyer to said third gravity conveyer, comprising a second gravity conveyer, a platform for successively receiving the files of cases from said first conveyer, means for holding said platform in its uppermost position, means controlled by the lateral thrust of a file of cases on said platform for releasing said platform, means for permitting said latform to descend under the weight of a e of cases thereon, means actuated by the weight of saidfile of cases for supporting all but the lowermost of said file of cases while said lowermost case passes from said platform onto said second gravity conveyer, means for returning said platform after said lowermost case has been discharged therefrom, means for releasingisaid supporting means, .remote control means for controlling the transfer of cases from said second gravity conveyerto said third gravity conveyer, and means for controllin the transfer of suc cessive files of cases from said first gravity conveyer to said platform. a

3. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding cases in contiguous ranks and files, and. a third gravity conveyer for delivering said cases to a lower level, said third gravity conveyer being positioned at a lower level than said first gravity conveyer, of means for transferring said casesone by one from said first gravity conveyer to said third gravity conveyer, comprising a second gravity conveyer, a platform for successively receiving the files of cases from said first conveyer, 'means for holding said latform in its uppermost position, means or releasing said platform, means for per-' mitting said latform to descend under the weight of a e of cases thereon, means for supporting all but the lowermost of said file of cases while said lowermost case passes from said platform onto said second gravity conveyer, means for returning said platform after' said lowermost case has been discharged therefrom, means for releasing said supporting means, means for controlling the transfer of cases from said second gravity conveyer to said third gravity conveyer, and means for controlli'n the transfer of successive files of cases rom said first gravity conveyer to said platform.

at The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding cases in ranks and files, and a third conveyer, ofmeans for transferring said cases one by one from said first gravity conveyer to said third conveyer, comprising a second conveyer, a platform for successively receiving the files of cases from said first conveyer, delivering said cases one by one to said second conveyer, means for controlling the transfer of cases from said second gravity conveyer to said third conveyer, and means for controlling the transfer of successive files of cases from said first gravityconveyer to said platform.

5. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding cases in contiguous ranks and files, and a third gravity conveyer loo for delivering said cases to a lower level, of means for transferring said cases from said first gravity conveyer to said third gravity conveyer, comprising a second gravity conveyer lying at a lower level than said first gravity conveyor and inclined toward said third 'gravit conveyer, a vertically reci rocable platfbrm positioned between sai first and second gravity conveyor for transferring said cases one by one from said first gravity conveyer to said secondgravity conveyor, and manually 'operable means for controlling the transfer of cases from said second gravity conveyer to said third gravity conveyer.

6. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding cases in ranks and files, and a third conveyer, of means for transferring said cases from said first gravity conveyer to said third conveyer, comprising a second gravity conveyor lying at a lower level than said first gravity conveyor and inclined toward said third conveyer, a vertically reciprocable platform positioned between said first and second gravity conveyer for transferring said cases one by one from said first gravity conveyer to said second gravity conveyor, and manually operable means for controlling the transfer of cases from said second gravity .conveyer' to said third conveyer. g

7. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding cases in ranks and files, and a third conveyer, of means for transferring said cases from said first gravity conveyer to said third conveyer, comprising a second gravity conveyer lying at a lower level than said first ravity conveyor and inclined toward said t ird conveyer, means including a reciprocable' platform for receiving a lurality of cases simultaneously from said rst conveyor and delivering them one by one to said second conveyer, and means for controlling the transfer of cases from said second gravity conveyer to said third conveyor.

8. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding a lurality of cases in contiguousranks and les, and a second gravity conveyer located below said first gravity conveyer, of means for transferring the cases from said first gravity conveyer to said second gravity conveyer, comprislng a platform mounted to reciprocate vertically between said gravity conveyors, said first gravity conveyer comprising gravity actu ated means for transferring said files of cases from said first gravity conveyer to said platform, and means for transferring said cases one by one from said platform to said second gravity conveyert 9. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding a lurality of cases in contiguous ranks and les, and a second gravity conveyer for receiving. said cases from said first gravity conveyer, of means for transferring the cases from said first gravity conveyer to said second gravity conveyer, comprising a movable platform for successively receiving the files of cases from, 881d first ravity conveyer, means controlled by the weight of said files of cases for preventing succeeding files of cases from inter-r. fering with the movement of said platform,

and means actuated by the weight of the 75 cases on said platform forcausing said platform to deliver said cases one by one to said second gravity conveyor. I 10. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding a'plurality of cases in 89 contiguous ranks and files, and a second gravity conveyer. for receiving said cases from said first gravity conveyer, of means for transferring the cases from-said first gravity conveyer to said second gravity conveyer, comprising a movable'platform for successivelyreceiving the files'of cases from said first gravity conveyer, means for preventing succeeding files of cases from interfering with the movement of said platform, 90

said cases from said firstgravity conveyer to, said second gravity conveyer, comprising means for successively removing said cases from successlve files begmning with the lowermost case of each file.

12. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding a plurality of cases in ranks and files, and a second conveyor for delivering said cases at a lower level, of

means for transferring said cases from said first gravity conveyer to said second conveyer, comprising means for successively removing sai'd'cases from successive files beginnin with the lowermost case of each file.

13. 'l lie combination with a first conveyer for holding a plurality of cases arranged 116 in contiguous ranks and files, and a second conveyor for receiving said cases, of means for transferring said cases from said first conveyer to said second conveyor, comprising a platform mounted to reciprocate be- 120 tween said conveyors, said platform being arranged to successively receive the files of cases from said first conveyer,'means actuated by the weight of the files delivered to said platform for supporting all but the lowermost case of said file so as to permit said platform to descend under the weight of said lowermost case and deliver said lowermost case to said second conveyer,

means for returning said platform to receive 1 0 a first gravity 95 the next lowermost case from said file, and means controlled by return movement of said platform for releasing said supporting means to permit the next lowermost case to be deposited upon said platform.

14. The combination with a,first conveyer for holding a plurality of cases arranged in contiguous ranks and files, and a second conveyer for receiving said cases, of means for transferring said cases from said first conveyer to said second conveyer, comprising a platform mounted to reciprocate between said conveyers, said platform being arranged to successively receive the files of cases from said first conveyer, means for supporting all but the lowermost case of said file so as to permit said platform to descend under the weight of said lowermost case and deliver said lowermost case to said second conveyer, means for returning said platform to receive the next lowermost case from said file, and means for releasing said supporting means to permit the next lowermost case to be deposited u on said platform. 15. The combinationwith a first conveye for holding a plurality of cases arranged in ranks and files, and a second conveyer for receiving said cases, of means for transferrin said cases from said first conveyer to sai second conveyer, comprising a platform mountedto reciprocate between said conveyers, said platform being arranged to successively receive the files of cases from said first conveyer, means for supporting all but the lowermost case of said file so as to permit said platform to deliver said lowermost case to said second conveyer, means for returning said platform to receive the next lowermost case from said file, and means for releasing said supporting means to ermit the next lowermost case to be deposited upon said platform.

16. The combination with a first conveyer for holding a plurality of cases arranged in ranks and files, and a second conveyer for receiving said cases, of means for transferring said cases from said first conveyer to said second conveyer, comprisin' a platform mounted to move between sai conveyers, said platform being arranged to successively 'receive the files of cases from said first conmost case of said pile, and means for en porting the remainder of said cases whi 0' said lowermost case is being removed, said last named means being actuated by the weight of said cases.

18. The combination with a conveyer, of a reciprocating platform forv delivering cases to said conveyer, and means controlled by the weight of cases positioned vertically above said platform for delivering said cases one by one to said platform.

19. The combination with a conveyer, of

areciprocating platform for holding a plurality of superimposed cases, and means controlled by the weight of said cases for delivering said cases one by one from said platform to said conveyer beginning with the bottom one.

20. The combination with a support for holding the stack of cases in ranks and files, of a conveyer, automatic means actuated by the weightlof the case's themselves for receiving a file of said cases simultaneously from said support and delivering them one by one to said conveyer, and operator-controlled means for controlling the delivery of individual cases from said conveyer.

21. The combination with a support for holding a stack of cases in horizontal ranks and vertical files, of a conveyer, and means for receiving a file of said cases simultaneously from said support and delivering them one by one to said conveyer.

22. The combination with a support for holding a stack of cases in ranks and files, of a conveyer, and automatic means actuated by the wei ht of the cases themselves for receiving a le of said cases simultaneously from said support and delivering them one by one to said conveyer.

23. The method of automatically delivering articles one by one from a stack of articles arranged in ranks and files, which com prises separating one file from the, rest of the stack, withdrawing the articles from the separated file one by one, beginning at the bottom,-and when the file is exhausted separating another file.

24. The method of automatically delivering articles one by one from a stack of articles arranged in horizontal ranks and vertical files, which comprises separating one file from the rest of the stack, withdrawing the articles from the separated file one by one, be innin at one end, and when the file is ex auste separatin another file.

25. The method 0 automatically delivering articles one by one from a stack of arti cles arran ed in horizontal ranks and vertical files, which comprises separating one file from the rest of the stack, withdrawing the articles from the se arated file one by one, and when the file is exhausted separating another file.

26. The method of automaticall delivering articles one by one from a stac of articles arranged in horizontal ranks and vertical files, which comprises separating one file from the rest of the stack, and withdrawing the articles from the separated file one by one, beginning at one end.

27. The combination with a first gravity conveyer for holding a plurality of cases in contiguous ranks and files, and a second gravity conveyer for receiving said cases from said first gravity conveyer, of means for transferring the cases from said first gravity conveyer to said second gravity conveyer, con'iprising a movable platform for successively receiving the files of cases from said first gravity conveyer, means for preventing succeeding files of cases from interfering with the movement of said platform, and means for causing said platform to deliver said cases one by one to said second gravity conveyer.

28. The combination With a gravity conveyer for holding a plurality of cases in contiguous ranks and files, and a second conveyer for receiving said cases from said gravity conveyer, of means for transferring the cases from said gravity conveyer to said second conveyer, comprising a movable platform-for successively receiving the files of cases from said gravity conveyer, means for preventing succeeding files of cases from interfering with the movement of said latform, and means for causing said plat orm to deliver said cases one by one to said second conveyer. v

29. The combination with a gravity conveyer for holding a plurality of cases in ranks and files, and a second conveyer for receiving said cases from said gravity conveyer, of means for transferring the cases from said gravity conveyer to said second conveyer, comprising a platform for succes sively receiving the files of cases from said gravity conveyer, and means for causing said platform to deliver said cases one by one to said second conveyer.

30. The combination with a first conveyer for holding a plurality of cases arranged in contiguous horizontal ranks and I vertical files, and a second conveyer for receiving and holding a plurality of cases arranged in a single row, of means for successively transferrin said cases from said first conve or to sai second conveyer, said means being actuated by the weight of said cases, a third conveyer for. receivingcases from said second conveyer, and remote control means for causing said cases to be delivered from said second conveyer to said third conveyer.

31. The combination with a first conveyer for holding a plurality of cases arran ed in contiguous horizontal ranks and vertical files, and a second conveyer for receiving and holding a plurality of cases arranged in a single row, of means for successively transferring said cases from said first conveyer to said second conveyer, a third conveyer for receiving cases from said second conveyer, and means for causing said cases to be delivered one by one from said second conveyer ,to said third conveyer.

32. The combination with a first conveyer for holding a plurality of cases arranged in horizontal ranks and vertical files, and a second conveyer for receiving and holding a plurality of cases arranged in a single row, of means for successivelytransferring said cases from said first conveyer to said second conveyer, a third conveyer for receiving cases from said second conveyer, and means for causing said cases to be delivered from said second conveyer to said third conveyer;

' 33. 'The combination with means for holding a plurality of cases in contiguous hori-- zontal ranks and vertical files, of a conveyer, and gravity actuated means for transferring said cases one by one to said conveyer.

34. The combination with means for holding a pluralit of cases in horizontal ranks and vertical ice, of a conveyer, and means for transferring said cases one by one to said conveyer.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 16 day of March, 1923.

LOUIS THREEFOOT. GEO. W. ELKIN. 

